Mutual Appreciation

I spend some time reading blogs. Okay, A LOT of time reading blogs. I follow quite a few here on blogger, as well as a few others I've got bookmarked. Though the topics vary from craft to food to writing to design to photography, I love it when the more personal blogs (those by every day people putting what they love out there vs. companies wanting you to buy their stuff) reflect exactly what's on my mind.

Andrea at Hula Seventy is one of those people I admire and fear. Admire because she's an artist and mom who seems like a great gal to sit down to tea. Fear because since I only know her through my computer, I wouldn't want us to meet and then find we don't hit it off. But I figure a gal who loves the Xanadu soundtrack and taking pictures has got to be a bosom friend.

This week Andrea is celebrating "'roid week," where she's talking a lot about Polaroid cameras and taking Polaroid pictures. Since we here at print>pixel have been pondering the notalgic merit of the new Polaroid 300 vs. the futuristically-interchangeable-lensed-video-capable Olympus Pen, looking at Hula Seventy's photos has been fun. Remember unbalanced color saturation? The white borders? The cool noise the camera made when the picture came out?
What did you love about Polaroids?

Showing off for Mom

Slide shows are pretty fun to whip up. They can be very simple, or cut through with crazy transitions, titles,  photo effects--you can personalize your presentation however you prefer.

Last year I made a slide show for my mother's 70th birthday celebration. With Mother's Day on the horizon, I thought I'd share a little tidbit of it with you. Just gearing up to celebrate our favorite gal...

Yo' Mama

Mother's Day is fast approaching (May 9, slackers!) and I for one am glad that I got a few of these gems scanned in of my own mother:

How to Succeed in Business

Despite getting minimal sleep last night, I feel energetic today thinking about the momentum I'm gaining with print > pixel. Last week I mailed off my first official order, which is a huge milestone. I've completed projects for family and friends, but this was the first job where I quoted a price and actually invoiced the transaction. It feels great.

Today I was fortunate to get another order. When I arrived at the client's house, she had her photos laid out on the table, tidy rows of beautiful black and white photographs of her family. I was excited about this peek into her life, but more than anything, I felt honored.

For many of us using digital cameras, camera phones or cameras built-in to our computers, an image is easily disposable. If it's doesn't satisfy, we can delete it and take another in a matter of minutes. It is just as easily replicated, whether your software allows you to copy and paste, duplicate or make a copy from your master. One of the reasons I get excited about the work I'm doing is because these print photos are literally one of a kind memories. There were probably no reprints made of these black and white photos. It didn't seem like the negatives were still available, either.

I felt honored and grateful to know that a client put their trust in me to preserve their memories. The first order I returned was sent from Oklahoma. That client boxed up her pictures and sent them to me on the recommendation of a friend. Today, my client gathered her photos into an envelope and pressed them into my arms along with a carton of home-made sorbet. 

My orders are rolling in. I'm learning new software. I'm forming relationships with clients and business partners. I am building a business. It's becoming evident that the foundation of my business is trust. Thank you, dear clients, for building it along with me.

Pixel Power!

A lot of my friends have mentioned that once they decided to have kids, they noticed babies everywhere they went. Pregnant women, babes in arms, strollers, kids in restaurants--their worlds changed just by having babies on the brain.

Well, my world has expanded as well, but not by babies, but by pixels! Here's an amazing video making the rounds on Facebook and Twitter. Enjoy!

Instant Gratification, Pt. II or This May Be The 'Droid You're Looking For

If you aren't shakin' your Polaroid picture right now, you may not have read my earlier post. Or, maybe you have digital pictures that you'd like to see in a Polaroid format. If that's the case, there's a cool program available to download called Poladroid. It's still in beta, but it works well and even makes that gratifying "mmiikkkgggrrrrreeeggggeeeeerrrr" mechanism sound as it converts your picture to its Polaroid equivalent. The download is free, but they're taking donations.

Check out the before and after images for my poladroid:

 

 

Instant Gratification

I saw a post on twitter today that led me to The Impossible Project, an organization working with Polaroid to develop newly improved film for existing Polaroid instant cameras.

Sweet.

The idea of revitalizing instant film definitely appeals to me. As you may know, Polaroid discontinued manufacturing their instant film a few years ago. You can still get the cameras and the film from amazon.com or ebay.com, but the word was that once the film ran out, it was out. After checking out a few of the film samples on the Impossible Project site, I noticed that there are quite a few varieties of film such as "Blue," "Chocolate," "Fade to Black" and "Image White." Each variety offers a development speciality, casting degrees of color or shadow onto your image. It's just like using the effects tool on a photo program on your computer, but instead of clicking on "Sepia," for your modern image to look aged, you use the "Sepia" film.

I love the vitality of a more analog-centric community. In our technology-driven world it often feels like we're trying too hard to look for the next big thing. The iPad came out days ago and there is already talk of "What's next?" Granted, if you wanted to go way old school, you'd be setting up your darkroom. But the notion of using modern technology to achieve an aesthetic that's accessible to users appeals to me greatly. The film runs about $18-$35, with a $47 variety pack option. I don't know how many exposures you get with each pack, but I assume it's around 10, the same as a single pack of the discontinued Polaroid film. Even if you buy a new Polaroid camera to go with that film, it's still cheaper than an iPad. And it's fun!

I'm pretty excited to have another point of view for photographic expression. The Impossible Project is in the midst of launching their products now, with a big push in summer. Their press release also mentions a store opening in New York City later this year.

Below are two polaroids of my own, the first of me and a family friend in the middle of a snowstorm at Donner Pass. What else but a Polaroid could capture such a blizzard as whiteout haze? And yes, I'm the nine-year-old wearing a funky striped scarf and Hello Kitty knit cap.

                   

The second was taken about 20 years later on one of those smaller, even more portable Polaroids. I think it was called a Sidekick or Slide-something? I'm at a plaid party. That's right, PLAID. I love this picture because the premise of a plaid party is just hilarious, but I'm also about ten weeks pregnant with my oldest daughter.